Voices: Buzz Harris | The time may be right to sell your small business

Thanks to the current economic conditions, an atmosphere is developing in northern Nevada that may prove beneficial to small business owners.

Recent developments from Wall Street to Virginia Street in the past 12 months are having a direct impact on how both sellers and buyers are looking at business opportunities. In many cases, this could be good news for business owners who are thinking about selling their companies.

“Business is still good, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to work as hard as I’m working today,” is a common statement heard in northern Nevada.

Since profits are still strong for many business owners, sellers are in a good position to get a nice price for their businesses. Another factor in favor of local business owners is that the inventories of attractive businesses that are for sale seem to be unusually low.

Related to this might be the most important factor of all: There are buyers in our market, right here, right now.

One group is the formal institutional investors who are disgruntled with what has occurred with their stocks. These buyers believe that being active in their own business can earn them a greater return.

Career changers are another group. These are former middle managers who have taken early retirement packages. They recognize the benefits of being in business for themselves.

We are even seeing employees from outside the executive ranks of companies looking at entering the entrepreneurial arena. For these buyers, it is more important than just the financial gain they’re pursuing, it’s the craving for a chance to make their own decisions.

And finally, there still are a large number of buyers who have relocated to our area.

With this volume of buyers who are looking at business opportunities, It might be more important than ever to use a skilled business broker who can separate the time wasters from the serious buyers. That will allow the sellers to continue to concentrate on successfully running their businesses.

Buzz Harris is a licensed business broker with The Liberty Group of Nevada. He can be contacted at BHarris@TheLibertyGroupofNevada.com or 775-825-3948.